Site Search Navigation

Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Regents Call for Changes, With Eyes on $700 Million

By Jennifer Medina December 15, 2009 2:15 pmDecember 15, 2009 2:15 pm

For months, states around the country have been scurrying to change their education laws to make them more likely to receive a slice of the $4 billion pie known as Race to the Top, a competitive federal grant meant to reward states for improving their educational policies. Until now, New York has not been among them. Months ago, when Education Secretary Arne Duncan began pushing the program, he singled out New York and a few other states, criticizing laws that prevent them from tying student data to teacher tenure.

On Monday, the state’s Board of Regents approved a series of changes that the members believe could change the game for New York and get the state $700 million in federal funds. But the bulk of their recommendations would have to be enacted by the State Legislature, and the lawmakers’ approval is far from certain.

Among other things, the Regents recommended lifting the cap on charter schools, which are publicly financed but privately operated. The state is just months away from reaching its current cap of 200 charter schools, and advocates for the charters have been agitating for weeks to urge lawmakers in Albany to increase the cap.

Senator Malcolm A. Smith, a longtime supporter of charters, is introducing a bill to raise the cap to 400, and Gov. David A. Paterson is considering submitting his own bill early next year.

But with several critics of the schools in the Senate, such legislation would face several hurdles. And Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been only lukewarm to charters; on Monday, a spokeswoman for Mr. Silver would say only that he would review the recommendations and discuss them with the members.

And with a Jan. 19 deadline for the federal money looming, it could be wishful thinking to imagine that lawmakers will make any changes in time for the state’s application.

The tight time line did not seem to bother the state’s education commissioner, David M. Steiner, who was widely hailed as a reformer when he took the post this summer. Dr. Steiner said that while some lawmakers may object to some of the specifics in the recommendations, he thought there was a “common sense of urgency” that education needed to improve in the state, citing largely flat scores on federal exams.

But facing a huge budget shortfall, Albany could be compelled to act. Several advocates pointed out on Monday that the federal money could equal the sum that the governor is withholding from local school districts.

In addition to raising the cap on charter schools, Dr. Steiner said the state should move to shut down the lowest-performing schools and move forward with plans to use student data in teacher evaluations and allow outside groups to certify teachers.

Last month, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed his own series of recommendations for the lawmakers to adopt, but there has been little movement so far. In a statement issued while he was in Copenhagen, the mayor seemed to offer a bit of faint praise: “The board’s proposed teacher evaluation system is an important first step in the right direction, and we hope the board will go further by requiring that student achievement data be part of the system.”

NO more money for the school system. Put that money into other educational facilities like libraries which should be open until midnight so that kids have some place to study. (and guess what I don’t care if they take short naps or sleep if they are tired, nor do iImind if there is someplace to eat associated with every public library.. Let Barnes and Noble run them. (or Starbucks.)

Use data to evaluate teachers, don’t use data to evaluate teachers, use data or don’t use data to decide if students are learning, dumb down tests to show improvement, make tests harder to tell the truth about learning… on and on it goes, without ONE good idea for REAL learning in any of them! Data is useful to a point, but kids are not machines, and the tests that are given are not adequate measures of real learning. They only measure bare bones learning at the lowest levels..take our own son who scored high 3s on the state test in math, yet needed expensive remedial tutoring on the basics as he could not do basic work. How come know one wants to address that? Ridiculous. It feels like the imates are running the system, with absolutely no real direction. How did many of us get a better education than all these kids today with all the technology and supposedly better educated teachers? I know..hard work, DEDICATED teachers who worked lionger days, school systems that had a consistent approach and direction..not these political hacks tearing things up, building up, tearing down again,. ENOUGH! Let’s find a way and give it time. Stop using the schools to feed the status of our politicians and their careers!

I hear you Julius. I have been teaching in the ghetto for 9 years, and my students have made some gains in test scores. But my school is still nowhere close to making AYP. I have lots of great ideas, but nobody really wants to hear them. Soon Obama and Arne Duncan will close my school and fire me and reopen it as a Charter school staffed mainly by under-qualified kids fresh out of college with no experience working in the hood. Pretty soon they’ll figure out just how tough it really is, and if they don’t quit, they will be fired for not raising test scores. Eventually there will be nobody of any real substance left who is willing to work in the hood. Sad, very sad.

Yeah, there’s a great idea. Spend more money on middle management and bureaucrats so that they can micromanage every teacher and put them under a microscope. By the way, let’s not consider spending that money on teachers’ salaries. Develop a state curriculum, taking away the job of actually teaching from the teachers (Mike, you said you had ideas that nobody wants to hear – and that is the real shame).

Public schools are not really public anymore, they’re run by the state and the government. Why not get back to local control of schools and get rid of the bloated bureaucracy of the Federal Dept. of Education, which has only helped to make kids statistically dumber in direct proportion to the increases in spending?

What's Next

Looking for New York Today?

New York Today is still going strong! Though no longer on City Room, New York Today continues to appear every weekday morning, offering a roundup of news and events for the city. You can find the latest New York Today at nytoday.com or in the morning, on The New York Times homepage or its New York section. You can also receive it via email.

Lookin for Metropolitan Diary?

Metropolitan Diary continues to publish! Since 1976, Metropolitan Diary has been a place for New Yorkers, past and present, to share odd fleeting moments in the city. We will continue to publish one item each weekday morning and a round-up in Monday's print edition. You can find the latest entries at nytimes.com/diary and on our New York section online.

About

City Room®, a news blog of live reporting, features and reader conversations about New York City, has been archived. Send questions or suggestions by e-mail.